Palestinian statehood bid fails at UN Security Council as US, Australia vote against

The UN Security Council has failed to adopt the Arab coalition’s bid calling for the creation of a Palestinian state and an end to Israeli “occupation”. The veto power US and Australia voted against the move with 5 abstentions.

The draft resolution gathered only 8 votes in favour, so it was
automatically defeated. The US however still used its veto power
and voted against the resolution. Another veto power state, the UK,
along with Lithuania, Nigeria, Korea and Rwanda have abstained
from the vote.

"This resolution sets the stage for more division, not for
compromise," said US Ambassador Samantha Power, calling the
draft a “staged confrontation.”

“The United kingdom supports much of the content of the draft
resolution. It is therefore with deep regret that we abstained
from it,” said UK ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant.
“We are disappointed that the normal and necessary
negotiation did not take place on this occasion.”

However, Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow
“cannot share the objections of those who believe that the
draft resolution was undermining the prospects of the negotiating
process.”

“Unfortunately last year revealed how this process has gone
into a blind alley, with its monopolization by the United States
and their pullback from the Quartet [US, EU, UN and Russia]. We
believe this to be a strategic mistake,” said Churkin.

“This draft reflects just demands of Arab states, including
the Palestinian people, and is in accord with the relevant UN
resolutions, the ‘land for peace’ principle, the Arab peace
initiative and middle-Eastern peace roadmap. And is also in
accord with China’s consistent position. We express deep regret
over the failure of the draft resolution to be adopted,”
said Liu Jieyi, China’s permanent representative to the United
Nations.

Israeli authorities said they are "satisfied" with the
failure of the Palestinian statehood bid at UN Security Council.

An official bid for statehood was submitted to the Council
Tuesday by a Jordan-led Arab coalition. The bid featured a
revised draft resolution of a similar proposal submitted earlier
this month. Delegates voted on the measure Tuesday afternoon.

Highly opposed by the US and Israel, the first version of the
draft
resolution was submitted “in blue” to the UN Security Council
last Wednesday. The Council includes five permanent members who
hold veto power and ten additional members who serve two-year
terms.

The resolution gives 12 months for a “just, lasting and
comprehensive peaceful solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which it regards as the creation of a “sovereign and
viable” Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, as well as the
withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the occupied territory by
2017.

Its text had already seen several amendments that concern East
Jerusalem as capital of the future state of Palestine, Israeli
settlement building, and Palestinian refugees’ right of return,
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee
member Abu Yousef told Asharq Al-Awsatnewspaper.

According to the current draft, Jerusalem is regarded as the
capital of both Israel and Palestine, but the role of East
Jerusalem in a future Palestinian state is not specified.
“International legitimacy is our ceiling on this issue, and
we cannot drop below this ceiling,” Yousef told the paper.

“I think there is very little doubt that any resolution in
the Security Council that actually created a Palestinian state or
called for real statehood would be vetoed,” US activist and
journalist Phyllis Bennis told RT. “I think there is a big
question whether the drafts that are now circulating actually do
that. The French amendments in particular significantly weaken
the idea that this is something that would actually create the
Palestinian state.”

Bennis explained that “there is no consequence named. The
resolution is not taken under either Chapter 6 or Chapter 7,
which are the coercive chapters of the UN charter.” These
chapters imply the use of military force and putting pressure
against the state, such as sanctions.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesdayhis administration
would"no longer
deal"with Israel in
case of the resolution's failure."If the Arab-Palestinian initiative
submitted to the Security Council to put an end to [Israeli]
occupation doesn't pass, we will be forced to take the necessary
political and legal decisions,"the Algerian APS news agency quoted
Abbas as saying.

Last Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called
a UN bid for Palestinian statehood an “act of
aggression.”

“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is adopting measures
whose sole aim is to attack Israel, with no benefit for the
Palestinians,” Lieberman said in a statement.

This summer, tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank escalated,
leading to the 50-day conflict between the Israel Defense Forces
and Palestinians. Operation Protective Edge claimed over 2,200
lives – most of them Gaza civilians.